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25/08/2016

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD: POLDARK IS BACK - ARE YOU IN FOR SOME MORE CORNISH DELIGHTS AND BITTERSWEET DRAMA?

Autumn usually brings new series and new shows on TV. Summer is going to end soon, this means we must get ready to some excitement. Are you waiting for anything in particular? Excited for any of the coming-soon shows?

I'm writing about mine, ok? What about sharing yours in the comments section? Too many question marks here! To the point!

What about Poldark series two? Isn't that something worth some enthusiasm? After the cliffhanger we were left with at the end of series one, I can't wait? Have you read the books meanwhile? Or re-watched the episodes of the first season?

Too many question marks again! Time for real news, now. Here is some info from the BBC Press Media Center website. Beware of some spoilers!

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as his wife Demelza are back on BBC One this September 4 at 9pm . The debut series peaked with 9.4 million viewers across TV and iPlayer, generating phenomenal media interest and devotion from viewers which culminated in it winning the Radio Times Audience Award at this year’s Baftas.

This series introduces other key characters including John Nettles (Midsomer Murders) as Ray Penvenen, one of the county's wealthiest landowners, and Gabriella Wilde (Endless Love) as his niece Caroline Penvenen, a beautiful and manipulative heiress. Hugh Skinner (W1A) plays Unwin Trevaunance, a prospective MP who hopes that Caroline (and her fortune) will consent to marry him. But does Caroline's heart lie elsewhere?

Also back for the second series are Heida Reed as Elizabeth, Kyle Soller as Francis, Ruby Bentall as Verity, Jack Farthing as George Warleggan and Luke Norris as Dr Dwight Enys. Beatie Edney and Phil Davis return as Jud Paynter and his wife Prudie and Robin Ellis reprises his role as the Reverend Halse.

1790 and there is riot and revolution in the air. Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) must fight for his freedom when George Warleggan (Jack Farthing) tries to have him hanged as a revolutionary. While Francis (Kyle Soller) and Elizabeth (Heida Reed) watch on in horror, can Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) save Ross from himself?

Crippled by debts, Ross and Francis try to heal old wounds by joining forces in a new mine free of the Warleggans. Ross and Elizabeth are thrown together by unforeseen circumstances, and Ross risks everything in a desperate smuggling venture. Meanwhile, the fate of the Poldarks is tied to Dr Dwight Enys (Luke Norris) and young heiress Caroline Penvenen (Gabriella Wilde) in unexpected ways.

The Poldark clan must learn to settle their differences once and for all, but at what cost?

"He has everything. Ross is a very complex and layered character and there is so much going on with him all of the time. There is no black and white. He is a man of principles and moral code and I like that but at the same time he is never dull. He feels like a real person to me not just this iconic literary character, and that comes with good writing and character development from both Winston Graham and Debbie Horsfield. I can’t imagine ever getting bored." - Aidan Turner

" It’s an honour to play such an exciting and strong female character, it’s very rare that these roles come along and it’s brilliant to be given the opportunity. Demelza is so strong and also very modern in ways, her ideas and the way she lives her life. That’s what, I think, is so lovable about her - you can relate to her, to her situation and struggles.She’s very realistic; she certainly doesn’t sit there sipping tea when there are jobs and chores to be done or people to help. There’s also this rebellious streak in her. If Ross is going to misbehave, why should she stay at home and be the loving wife who is forgotten?" - Eleanor Tomlinson

The new series is again 8 - episode and is based on books 3 and 4 of Winston Graham's saga: Jeremy Poldark (1954) and Warleggan(1955, original title The Last Gamble)

Jeremy Poldark

Ross Poldark faces the darkest hour of his life in this third novel of the Poldark series. Reeling from the tragic death of a loved one, Captain Poldark vents his grief by inciting impoverished locals to salvage the contents of a ship run aground in a storm—an act for which British law proscribes death by hanging. Ross is brought to trial for his involvement, and despite their stormy marriage, Demelza tries to rally support for her husband, to save him and their family.

But there are enemies in plenty who would be happy to see Ross convicted, not the least of which is George Warleggan, the powerful banker whose personal rivalry with Ross grows ever more intense and threatens to destroy the Poldarks.

And into this setting, Jeremy Poldark, Ross and Demelza’s first son, is born...

Warleggan

When Ross and Elizabeth's old attraction rekindles itself, Demelza retaliates by becoming dangerously involved with a Scots cavalry officer. With bankruptcy an increasing possibility, the Poldarks seem to be facing disaster on all fronts.

Poldark Season 2 premieres for US viewers too on PBS Masterpiece with a 2-hour episode at a special time: Sunday, September 25th, 2016 at 8/7c. The series then continues Sundays Oct. 2 - Nov. 27, 2016 at 9/8c.

THIS IS ME

I've been an English teacher for a long time now and a blogger for more than 5 years. I love classic literature, reading, theatre, period drama, art and that is what I usually write about on FLY HIGH and My Jane Austen Book Club. I'd love to hear from you! Leave your comments to my posts or send e-mail messages to learnonline.mgs@gmail.com.

"The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space."— Italo Calvino

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